Big Indiana Bass

Interesting World Record Bass Stuff

I came across a few interesting pieces concerning the world record largemouth bass caught by George Perry back in 1932. One is the picture to the left. Below are the others:

Granddaddy Of All Bass

Remembering George W. Perry

George Perry and the World Record Largemouth Bass

Minnow Bucket Tourney - Monroe

The I.U. Bass Club is on a roll. Here is the report from last weekends tourney:

Hey everyone. Just to update the Minnow Bucket. IU easily took the victory with 47.4 pounds, Purdue had 23 lbs. IUs biggest sack was 5 fish @ 17.5 lbs with a couple boats having 3 fish sacks that went 9.5 and 7.5 as well. Every IU boat had at least a keeper or two. Fish were caught mainly on crankbaits anywhere from 2-12 feet of water. Mainly fishing laydowns or flooded trees in creeks and creek mouths all over the lake. Biggest fish came in 8-12 ft of water cranking over treetops. Hope this helps. Monroe is on fire right now.

GARY BOUVIER MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

MORSE LAKE, NOVEMBER 22nd 8a.m.-4p.m.

 

On November 3^rd, 2009, Gary Bouvier lost his fight with a multitude of health problems. Although he was full of fighting spirit he could not endure his own bodies will to pass on. Gary leaves behind a loving wife and 6 year old son whose world has been turned upside down with the recent tragedy. Gary was unemployed and uninsured at the time of his hospitalization and the medical bills will soon be piling up. Although we are unable to even put a dent in the bills, what we are able to do is come together and do our part for a family not only in crisis but in need.

 

The Indiana Smallmouth website is having a benefit/memorial tournament in Gary’s name at Morse Lake on November 22^nd from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Along with the tournament there will be an all you can eat dinner held afterwards at the Noblesville Community Center in Downtown Noblesville. Please come out and join all of us for a great day of fishing and a great evening of food and fun. There will be some great door prizes which will include gift certificates, tackle and much more given away at the dinner as well as a 50/50 drawing. Cost for the tournament is $60.00 per boat and the dinner will be $5.00 per person.

 

If you are unable to fish the tournament or attend the dinner we will also be accepting donations via mail.

 

Please see the Indiana Smallmouth website for entry form and more details on the tournament and who/where to send donations if unavailable to fish the tournament.

Official Rules:

1. Check in and registration will begin at 6:00 a.m. in the Morse Lake Marina parking lot.
2. Fish alone or with a partner, cost is $60.00 per boat with $10.00 going towards Big Bass.
3. 14 inch limit on either largemouth/spotted/smallmouth bass with a 5 fish per boat limit. NO DEAD FISH WILL BE WEIGHED IN!
4. All Indiana State Boating Laws will apply
5. Official take off will be at 8:00 a.m. and official check in will be at 4:00 p.m. You must be INSIDE the idle buoys at 4:00 p.m. or you will be considered late at a penalty of 1 pound per minute.
6. There are no off limit areas during the tournament.
7. You must fish out of the boat at all times, fishing from a dock or the shore will not be permitted.
8.  Payout will be based on number of boats fishing and it will be a 50 percent payout of money collected. Big Bass money is considered a side pot and will be paid out 100 percent.
9. Please be courteous to all other participants while driving the boat and fishing, this is for a good cause and we don’t want to see it ruined by something avoidable.

Please make checks payable to: Diana Bell / Gary’s Fight
Entries may be sent via mail to:

Diana Bell
6075 Lacebark Way
Avon, IN 46123

Sunday Selection

Took the neighbor out to Cataract today. Weather was great except for the wind, but it wasn't near as bad as yesterday. Still can't complain about near 70 degree temps this time of year. Parking lot was pretty crowded when we arrived at 12:30 due to the nice weather. Water was pretty stained on the State Park side where we were, with some areas a little clearer as we moved around and a surface temp about 54 degrees. Lots of shad schools getting grouped up on the wind blown side of the lake making graphing difficult. Lake still down below winter pool. Lots of boat traffic in the little area we stayed in, a mix of crappie guys and bass anglers.

Heard the bite was pretty good yesterday for numbers but size was harder to come by. We had to work to get our fish today but still came out alright. Nothing really big today, just a nice solid limit of 10.5"-11.5"crappie. Most fish came from 8'-12' for us, with a few shallower and a few deeper. A mix of tube jigs and curlytails, whites and chartreuses for our fish today.

Haven't seen the extended forecast but would like to get back out there and see more of the lake while the lake is down. Didn't really get to move around much today.

Pegged the Meter

Cold water bite is only getting better. Heard the boys whacked them on Morse today to the tune of nearly 16 pounds. I was on a reservoir about 60 miles to the southwest of there. Didn't have the size but made up for it with the numbers. Brought 40 to the boat today in just under 4 hours fishing from 2 until 6. Love that you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch fish at this time of year. Of course, my general opinion is that you never have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch bass...and I don't :)

Air temp was pushing 65 by the time I hit the ramp. SW winds at 20 gusting to 30 made for a limited water day. Fortunately a lot of the banks I like on this lake during the cold water period tend to have some degree of wind protection to them. Who knows, perhaps that's why they're good cold water banks. Actually the fish are still quite spread out throughout the reservoir at the moment. I'm catching several at each of the traditional spots, but I'm still getting plenty on shallower areas scattered uplake. Water clarity uplake has settled out nicely after the rain a few days back and is quite fishable. Water surface temps were hovering around 53-54 degrees.

The jig did all the damage today for me, just like it did over at Morse. Just different setups and styles. And more food for thought from the hi-vis line files as all 40 bass came with the jig tied directly to the flame green Fireline with no additional markups or leaders. You can probably tell that in the action shot from today of a typical bass (15.5") from this trip. If the winds die down to 10 mph or less tomorrow like they say, it will be off to Cataract for a crappie smackdown :)

I.U. Central Regional Champions

Indiana University wins Central Regional Championship

Bass fishing club reels in $50K prize

I.U. Bass Fishing Team
 

Persistence On Morse Pays Off

I have lived on Morse Reservoir for 14 years but really never took up fishing.  I finally took the plunge, bought a bass boat (NitroZ6) and started on my quest for the big bass.  I have had success all summer with my largest catch being a 6.4 pounder. 
It’s been great all summer catching the variety pack of crappies, largemouth, smallmouth, catfish and of course some bluegill , then fall came and the fish seemed to disappear. What happened? October for me was a bust, oh an occasional crappie or small striper but no largemouth. 

Being a beginner I started doing some research on the internet, searching for local fishing reports, reading articles on fall patterns, etc.  Then I ran across an article about “fall turnover” and its effect.  WOW, what an eye opener!  So I set out on a new strategy using slower presentations, fishing deeper, fishing points and drop offs chasing the shad using an assortment of lures from, jigs, plastics, drop shot rigs, deep crankbaits, etc.  Really nothing different from my summer success other than a slower presentation, however still no largemouth to be found.

Now it’s November and I am still trying to track down the elusive largemouth 3-4 time a week, still with no luck.  So today (November 3rd) about 56 degrees, water temperature 51 degrees, winds out of the north about 9 mph.  I ventured out about 2:30 in the afternoon with bright blue skies. I decided to return to my favorite strategy, fishing shallow points using a shallow running crankbait, after all what I have got to lose. 

Well, it finally happened about 3:30, bang got a good hit in about 2 feet of water bouncing the crank off the bottom, a nice fat 18” bass.  Circled back hit the same area and landed a second one.  I am ever glad I hung in there and did not pack things up for the season.  Looking forward to getting back out there to see if it was a fluke or I am on to something.

-by B. Speers

Stocking Research

After yesterday's post on the L. Freeman largemouth bass stocking, I thought this bit of soon-to-be-published research was timely. 'Growth and Survival of Four Sizes of Stocked Largemouth Bass' by Diana and Wahl looked more closely at the parameter of stocking length and its relationship to survival over an extended period of time. As has frequently been reported in the literature before, stocking of largemouth bass tends to not be too productive as stocked fish have poor survival and no better growth rates. Apparently differing lengths don't change anything dramatically to that degree.

The smallest size juveniles stocked had the worst survival rate. Beyond that though, further increases in size stocked didn't create any differences in survival among the remaining groups. Smallest sizes had the highest stocking related mortality, but that only accounted for less than 6% of all mortality. Stocking mortality only occurred at higher water temps (>24 deg. C) as might be expected.

Mortality from predation ranged as high as 25%, and interestingly 99% of all predation was by other (adult) largemouth bass. The one caveat to this was that the largest size fingerlings stocked (~8") were not consumed by other adults. Still, this didn't translate into any long term population benefits.

The basic message from this study, similar to what many other studies have found, is that you can't stock your way to a successful largemouth fishery much beyond what natural population is already supported by the water body.

Lake Freeman Bass Stocking

In case you hadn't heard the news, a local group stocked nearly 6,000 largemouth bass into Lake Freeman during the past two weeks in October. For the details click below.

Volunteers stock lake with largemouth bass

Lake Waveland - November 1

FIND THE COVER:

FIND THE CRAPPIE:

BASS LIKE CRAPPIE TUBES, TOO!